Scientology

Scientology is a new religious movement which was founded in May 1952 by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. In 1952, he wrote Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, and he started a Scientology college in Sussex, England. Scientology originated in Hinduism and Buddhism, and it believes that the basic human problem is unhappy experiences (both past and present). It believes that the person unconsciously deals with the unhappy experiences, and that they have mental abberations called "engrams", which may begin in the womb. The goal is freedom or liberation from engrams, and they believe that auditing trainers can help to train people to "audit" these traumatic memories. The religion, like Hinduism and Buddhism, believes in the need for freedom from entrapment. In the faith, rich people (including Tom Cruise, Kelly Preston, and John Travolta) perform weddings and ceremonies in addition to religious ceremonies. The religion is not exclusive, allowing for members of any other faith tradition to follow Scientology. If one cannot afford to pay for their auditing teacher, they become a laborer (or even slave) within Scientology. In the United States, Scientology has IRS tax exemptions and is considered a faith tradition, but Germany and France consider Scientology to be unconstitutional.